To Rewind and Relive
by Destructive Tenderness
Summary: After a brief visit to a realm of nothingness, Naruto awakens to a place he never thought was possible. Kakashi didn't believe it either. Time travel.
1. Chapter 1

Suddenly, there was nothing.

Like a blank canvas, all he could see was white; no colour, no dust, nothing.

It seems, however, that not absolutely everything is nothing. He is an exception in this realm. He's still alive. He's still clad in his unique shinobi attire, his hitai-ate still firmly on his forehead. He is the only thing in this blank space.

The teen, barely a man, sighs as he plops down on the surface akin to a ground. For once, his mind is not occupied by a certain fox. He has never felt true loneliness, because the fox's presence always remained, always there at the back of his mind.

But here, in this world of nothing, of no one, has he finally felt the experience of having no companion.

Naruto shakes his head madly, as if to banish the oddly accepting thoughts of being stuck here. He's been here for only a minute and already he hates this place. He would have preferred to continue his fight with Madara.

But what happened at the fight? Where is he? How did he get here?

As if to answer his questions, a wave of nausea hits him. Then all he could see was black. At least it isn't white.


	2. Chapter 2

He awoke to the sound of birds.

Through half-lidded eyes, Naruto stared blankly at a familiar dull grey ceiling and listened to a sound he thought was extinct. A feeling of peace and serenity washed over him; a luxury during the war that nobody was allowed to have. For once, he sensed no grief, smelled no sorrow and heard no crying.

He abruptly left his creaky bed and quickly made his way to the window. With a flourish, the ripped curtains were pushed to the side and what he saw confirmed his suspicions.

This wasn't the Konoha he knew.

Naruto gazed at the village he swore to protect; a village that was supposed to be razed to the ground. Where was the rubble? Where were the frantic medics? Where were the tents that served as shelter for the civilians?

But he found none of that. What he saw was something far more pleasant.

Naruto smiled genuinely for the first time in months. He's back, and he's home.

* * *

Judging from the absence of Tsunade's head on the Hokage monument and the fact that the village wasn't in ruins, Kakashi quickly figured out what had happened and adapted to the unusually peaceful atmosphere of his home village. He was more familiar seeing overcrowded tents rather than the proudly standing buildings.

He wanted to mindlessly amble on the bustling streets and to take in the wonderfully lively atmosphere. Sadly, he didn't trust himself to not react to dead people talking to one another, nor did he trust himself to not break down at the sight of Gai, who would undoubtedly challenge him for something stupid again. Not that he would mind. It would be too suspicious if people saw Kakashi acting as if he hasn't seen the village years. He especially didn't want to cause alarm when said people were mostly jounin. Instead of reacquainting himself to his home, Kakashi's feet took him elsewhere.

Standing at the Memorial Stone, he realised he wanted to see his students the most. A de-aged team seven who have not seen the horrors of war yet. Despite his aloof attitude towards people in general, it was his kids that held the majority of his affection, no matter how subtle or seemingly non-existent those gestures were. After all, they reminded him of his old team with Minato-sensei, Rin and Obito.

Kakashi closed his eyes briefly before zoning in on Obito's name on the stone. What in the world happened to his once loud mouthed teammate? Whatever he did in all those years, it made him into something that haunted the silver haired man ever since he laid eyes on the disfigured Uchiha. Clenching his fist tightly, he swore to bring this madman down before he took the world down with him.

* * *

It was in the bathroom that Naruto realised that he was in a body younger than his mentality. However, he paid most of his attention to the abomination on his not-so-muscular body. What on earth compelled him to wear this eyesore?

He sighed dejectedly, wanting nothing more than to throw the jumpsuit outside and hit it with a well-aimed katon jutsu. Unfortunately, he couldn't make major changes to himself for no reason. Not only would his team be suspicious, the Sandaime might also become wary of him.

 _Jiji…_

It was such a long time ago that Naruto didn't feel the sting of when he first heard of Jiji's death. It affected him greatly but he had learned to accept and move on. Instead of wallowing in sadness, he trained even harder to protect his precious people. His firm resolve didn't ease the pain in his heart every time another precious person died. _And did they die._ Naruto closed his eyes to fight back the overwhelming sorrow of the more recent deaths, namely a certain Hyuuga's.

He let out a deep breath before resuming his original train of thought. There were more pressing matters to consider.

The knowledge of the future was not something to be taken lightly, especially when in the hands of the wrong person. Naruto trusted Jiji completely, but was it really a good idea to let him know of the future? So many things could change that would render his knowledge useless. Worse, the significant events that were supposed to occur might not happen at all. What if the consequences were more destructive than beneficial?

On the other hand, if he didn't make changes in this timeline, he would be reliving the war again. It was obvious that his job was to prevent the terrible events that led to the near destruction of the world from happening again. And Naruto knew that letting the nightmare replay itself was not going to happen. Not when he was here.

He took a glance out his window to stare at the Tsunade-less Hokage monument. If he did tell Jiji, would he believe him? Showing off a rasengan or reciting his clan history was probably not enough proof, after all, he could still be suspected as a very well informed imposter. Speaking of the rasengan…

Naruto focused and attempted to make the glowing ball of chakra appear. To his dismay, the ball was only able to last for a few seconds before it was gone. He tried to walk up his wall, only to add another crack to the brick before he quickly jumped off of it. Childishly, he grumbled while glaring at the crack.

Well, it was back to square one again.


	3. Chapter 3

The walk to the training ground was slow and unhurried. Naruto scanned the familiar area with fondness as he sidestepped some academy kids playing ninja. He didn't see Konohamaru or his friends anywhere, but he decided to wait until they came to him. Until then, Naruto made sure to look out for any suspicious fences or completely out of place large objects.

Naruto smiled at the busy civilians running their businesses, unconcerned by the fleeting steps of shinobi sprinting on the rooftops. Again, he felt the hateful glares drilling holes at his back but he easily ignored animosity by flashing a grin at them. The disbelief in their expressions was enough to prevent any resurfacing lonely memories from his past.

Tipping his head back slightly to face the cloudless sky, he realised that this calmness was one of the reasons for Konoha's near destruction during the invasion. The absence of war goaded everybody into a false sense of peace that made them soft and unsuspecting. It was no surprise that they were caught unaware by the sudden attack, which had serious consequences. Even the shinobi were not as prepared as they should have been, despite the ongoing Chuunin exams. If the small, seemingly insignificant incidents during the exams weren't enough of a wake-up call, the giant sand racoon certainly was.

However, saving Sasuke from his defect and future madness was Naruto's top priority. His Sasuke had stopped being a nuisance to Naruto and his team, instead he became a nuisance to Konoha as a whole. If only he could convince Sasuke that the power he's searching for is in Konoha, then maybe his tragic future could be averted. And Sakura? He just had to find a way to inspire her to take her training more seriously and to hopefully regain the monstrous strength she had learned from Tsunade-baachan.

His relaxed, thought-filled saunter came to an abrupt halt as soon as he caught sight of his precious teammates, albeit younger versions of themselves. Sasuke's ebony hair and unmoving stoic expression brought a quick frown on Naruto's face before smoothing out again to a harmless grin.

As he strode towards them, he involuntarily remembered the stinging sensation of the chidori ramming into his chest, and the devastating feeling of failure as he weakly struggled to meet Sasuke's cold, unrepentant eyes. Despite that destructive fight and fatal injury, Naruto has long since forgiven his brother, although many people scoffed at his unwavering determination. Naruto couldn't blame them. Even the selfless Uzumaki couldn't condone many of Sasuke's wrongdoings.

The distinct pink hair of his female teammate snapped around her as she swiftly faced him. Her eyes lacked the unyielding strength and hidden intelligence Naruto had always associated with his Sakura. Instead, innocent child-like emerald orbs conveyed a blind crush to the Uchiha and strong irritation towards the time-traveller. Naruto mentally winced at the striking, high-pitched voice as she scolded him for his lateness. It was this trait that certainly didn't change in the future; her implacable temper that rivalled her bone-crushing punches.

As Naruto rubbed the back of his head and apologised sheepishly, he decided that this time, none of them would be separated ever again. Not in this life.

* * *

Kakashi idly observed the team running laps around the training ground with his trademark abomination in hand. It was clear that Naruto's stamina was in a league of its own as opposed to Sakura's gradually decelerating pace. After ten laps, even Sasuke began to struggle to keep up with his energetic teammate and he was starting to experience the same exertion as his admirer. Naruto, who was as fresh as ever, could barely contain a smug smirk every time he lapped the Uchiha, which infuriated him even further. Fifteen laps in and Sakura was the first to drop.

Kakashi sighed as he ambled to his female student and handed her a bottle of water. Twenty should be nothing to her, if anything, twenty laps should barely make her sweat.

He shut his eyes closed momentarily, remembering that this was a much younger, much weaker Sakura that was currently gasping for breath beside him. The hot-tempered Sakura he was familiar with would have done a hundred laps as a warm-up. He glanced at the pink haired girl again. There it was; a ghost of an image of the apprentice of the Legendary Sucker overlapping an anxious girl, an image only he could see.

No matter how much he cherished the innocence of children, Kakashi knew that this sentiment should be thrown out the window now or else the kunoichi wouldn't even have the chance to be one.

"Sakura, have you ever heard of tree-climbing?"

* * *

It was strange.

Naruto's stance was perfect; his elbow was in the correct place, his wrist action was flawless. But why was he missing the target so much?

As Kakashi contemplated this, he took a quick look at Sasuke's smooth katas abusing a tree stump with a flurry of rapid movement and fluent transition. There were a few kicks that were too high and the shifting of weight from one foot to the other caused a slight hitch in his balance while doing alternating jabs. He made sure to correct that by a quick instruction to his student who gave a curt nod.

Returning to Naruto, he passed by some towering trees where Sakura was running up and down tree trunks, jumping from tree branch to tree branch without hesitation. It was clear to the sharingan-user that Sakura has mastered this portion of training well enough that she can advance to water walking tomorrow.

To his surprise, he saw a kunai lodge itself dead centre on the target before the thrower promptly plucked it out and gathered the other kunai that have missed the target completely. What was interesting, was that that kunai was the only kunai that had made it to the target at all. Perhaps it was lucky throw?

Kakashi continued to watch Naruto diligently flinging the kunai at the target with undesirable results. He opted to observe the boy's expression, expecting a frustrated sigh or even a childish outburst. It was the momentary upturning of the lips that gave him away, and the timing couldn't have been better. Kakashi finally knew what was going on.

"Naruto," he began, fixing his student with a barely benign look. "Throw the next ten kunai at the centre of the target and I will treat you to as much ramen as you want for this evening."

The effect was instantaneous. Within five seconds, Kakashi found himself glaring at ten kunai occupying the centre of the target in a neat bunch. He took a deep breath, mumbled a hasty prayer for his wallet and turned to the impudent boy.

"Well done, Naruto, I knew you had it in you."

He wasn't sure if Naruto's broadening grin meant that he was amused by his dry tone, or that he was already planning his dinner.

* * *

"Too bad Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme didn't want to join us, ne sensei?" Naruto mused before he viciously attacked his miso ramen. Unbeknownst to his teacher, the blond was relishing every moment of this meal as if it were his last. Fortunately, his table manners were not known to be polite in any shape or form, so his sloppy, borderline ferocious ingesting of the heavenly food was no different to how he normally ate. A shinobi can only live on so much ration bars and the occasional stale bread. After months and months of cold, flavourless somewhat-meals, Naruto couldn't be any happier to exercise his taste buds with the best ramen ever made.

"Hmm." Kakashi replied absentmindedly. It was fine by him that the other half of team seven didn't come, or else, his offer would have to be extended to them, which was a big no-no from his predictably lighter wallet. He was capable of being generous but not _that_ generous.

Naruto grinned cheekily at him and ordered a large bowl of pork ramen this time. "It's not my fault you bribed me. I think you set yourself up for that one sensei."

"You know, Naruto, I wouldn't have had to bribe you with ramen if you didn't hide your skill. Don't think I didn't notice how you deliberately missed your targets." At this, Kakashi fixed his student with a suspicious stare. "You don't seem the type to hide your abilities."

Naruto sighed, defeated. "I should have known you wouldn't be fooled. What kind of Hokage will I be if I can't trick my own shinobi?"

"You're not supposed to trick your own shinobi."

"But what if I really, really, really don't want them to know?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Was Naruto purposefully hiding something from him? Whatever his secret was, Kakashi will know. He couldn't recall Naruto ever keeping a secret from his team, other than being the vessel of the Kyuubi. Nevertheless, in the future, Naruto was shown to have an odd affinity with deception, especially in infiltration missions that required believable acting and quick thinking.

He looked at the preteen again critically. Does Naruto already have that talent at this time?

"If it does not endanger the village or its people, I suppose it's alright."

Naruto can keep his secrets for now. He just needed some more time to observe this unpredictable ninja and his hidden talents. "Why, Naruto, do you have a secret you can't tell me? A new crush? A girlfriend?"

Naruto made a gagging gesture at his teacher's personal suggestions. Inwardly, he was slightly taken aback at the one eighty degree change in the tone of the conversation. He feared that Kakashi was going to interrogate him, or worse, assume that he was an imposter. He didn't like where the conversation was going, and where it is going now isn't any better.

"In your dreams, sensei!" he yelled and he didn't need to force a blush to appear.

"Hmm? Why would you of all people be in my dreams? I usually have women with big, busty-"

"Another bowl of ramen please!"

"Now that was rude."

"I'll even pay for half of the meal, just don't talk about your perverted fantasies again!"

Kakashi eye-smiled. "That sounds like a good deal, Naruto. I'm sure I can teach you all about this particular subject when you have finished with puberty."

And he proceeded to chuckle at his orange-clad student's dejected response while inhaling his ramen at a slower rate than usual.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time he left the ramen stand after witnessing an amusing display of financial grief from his eccentric sensei, Naruto made his way to the Hokage monument. His father's head stared stonily back at him as he approached the pride of the village. He glanced at each head with fondness, recalling their resurrection when they fought with him against the Juubi and Madara. It was no wonder that everyone was in complete awe when they appeared out of nowhere, one by one, and showed exactly why they were hailed as legendary hokages.

The sun was beginning to set steadily, its rays reaching parts of buildings that were once a pile of rubble. Shadows extended from dark alleys, and the occasional shimmer announced the brief presence of shinobi doing their rounds. The sky had taken a comforting lilac hue, the currently dominant clashes of the bright sun's rays against the endless dark blue creating an area of colour almost reminiscent of his unique attire. Taking a deep breath-which faintly smelled of the distinct green foliage Konoha was known for- Naruto felt his tumulus mind relax.

Now that he was calm and level-headed (imagine that), he finally had time to consider his next course of action. What are his plans, now that he has knowledge that he isn't supposed to have, jutsus that aren't meant to be created yet not to mention chakra consuming? And Kurama? Madara? Akatsuki?

His serene and tranquil state of mind suddenly lurched into a chaotic frenzy of impossible ideas and mostly stupid suggestions that may or may not work. From finding and killing the Akatsuki to simply leaving this village to hunt for the ancient madman that ruined everything.

He chuckled quietly to himself. If he continued with that train of thought, he might actually end up like Sasuke. Naruto would be calling himself a hypocrite for wanting revenge, but was it revenge when the person you want dead also wants ultimate power that could wipe out the shinobi population? There was no doubt in his mind that he'd be doing a justice to the world for killing an insane man with already insane power. In order to do this, he needed to act. He needed to train; allow his body to relearn his skills and his techniques that made him Rokudaime. As opposed to his past life, he knew what he was doing this time. He had time, he had long developed patience; now all he required was focus.

The last of the setting sun disappeared beneath the horizon, taking the lilac hue with it, leaving behind the infinite dark sky decorated by softly shining stars and a moon not affected by an eternal tsukyomi.

* * *

The next day, he woke up feeling disorientated and oddly sweaty.

For the life of him, Naruto couldn't remember precisely what he dreamt of last night, but the dreaded, foreboding feeling of loss and death hasn't left him yet. Closing his eyes and focusing intently at the barely lingering image of dark hair and pale skin, his mind wandered to his deceased lover. She was always a painful reminder of his failures, his responsibilities.

The weight in his heart felt heavier.

It was strange that he thought of her now, years after her death, years after taking revenge, mourning, grieving, accepting, loving, smiling. His lips curved up slightly at the memory of her ever-present gentle grin and the soft creasing of her pale coloured eyes. Even in death, she never stopped smiling that tender smile only directed for him.

With an abrupt start, Naruto snapped his eyes open, ignoring the moisture trailing down his marked cheeks, and swung his legs over his bed. He noted that he was up far earlier than he was expected to be, his room was still covered in shadows that refused to leave until another two hours have passed. Darkness and silence were never a good combination for the man turned boy, despite his affinity for sneaking around in areas he was not welcome.

Snatching whatever clothes he had that were not orange – which was pitifully lacking- he geared himself up for a quick stroll to a random training ground. The face of a female Hyuuga plagued his weakening hold of his thoughts as he swept out of the room with a simple shunshin.

* * *

Sasuke was a prime example of why humans were described as creatures of habit. In his case, they were often daily disciplinary actions preparing himself for an inevitably justifying battle. In short; habits, albeit strict ones.

Every morning at six, he would efficiently don his usual attire, mechanically stock up on weapons and briskly walk to a training ground that has not been completely destroyed by jounin. There, he would execute his warm up, spend an hour on conditioning his body, another two hours practising his ninjutsu, another hour in taijutsu and if he didn't have training with his pathetic teammates that day, he'd spend one more hour sharpening his aim through a meticulously assembled obstacle course.

He would then, repeat this routine backwards that evening again as long as there was no mission involving a cat and exercising his rather limited patience for felines and idiots.

Granted, this routine left him feeling fatigued, worthless and frustrated when he made no progress, but generally, all he needed to get past his vexation was to envision Itachi's heartless stare, where he would punch something-preferably a tree stump- then resume his training regime.

So it was a surprise when, after three years of his undisturbed routine, that his blond-haired teammate would be the one to interrupt his schedule.

The black-haired boy observed Naruto's effortlessly made clones do different things in large groups while one lone Naruto sat down with a scroll and brush. From the edge of the training ground where Sasuke stood, he forcefully pushed down the irritation of someone disturbing his every day pattern. Instead, a snort of derision followed by a questionable twitch of his left eye was all he allowed for his reaction. His gaze remained on the group of Naruto's doing impossibly swift hand signs and releasing powerful techniques that were no doubt ranked higher than the dobe himself.

His legs haven't moved for five minutes. As soon as he realised this, he turned on his heel and stealthily left the training ground. He missed the quietly chortling figure who kept his blue eyes trained on his teammate among the mass of clones.

* * *

"Let's spar."

Naruto looked up from his absent minded observation of the flowing water. He didn't reply for a while, preferring his comfortable position leaning his elbows on the sturdy bridge.

"That's strange." Naruto began after a minute of silence. "You haven't asked me to spar with you since the academy."

Naruto turned to face Sasuke with a sly smirk. "Do you suddenly think I'm worth dealing with now that you've seen what I can do?"

Sasuke bristled at the taunt, knowing that if he denied it, he'd only be proving his fault. He'll admit that his curiosity had been piqued after watching Naruto fluidly produce a strong wind style jutsu against a clone who just as fluidly conjured up an earth wall. But that was it; curiosity.

"Why have you kept this hidden?"

Their increasingly heated conversation was effectively halted by a loud greeting from Sakura. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun! You're really early today, earlier than me." Then she glanced at Naruto, who resumed his vacant stare towards the water. Sasuke merely offered her a quiet grunt before proceeding to sulk at the far end of the bridge. It was only now that Sakura noticed the tense silence between the boys. She wisely avoided following Sasuke and instead, gave an enquiring tilt of her head to an uncharacteristically calm Naruto. When he responded with a mute shake of the head and a languid shrug, Sakura frowned and turned her attention to the water.

Two hours of uncomfortable silence permeated between the mismatched team. The unresponsive Naruto stayed put in a relaxed pose and a blank expression on his face. The normally lively blue eyes that perpetually oozed mischief were alarmingly absent.

They didn't say anything to each other, Naruto leaned against the bridge staring unseeingly at the lazy flow of water while Sasuke sat on the ground with his hands clasped together in front of his face.

Her eyes zoned in on the dark-haired boy who wore a contemplative expression. His eyebrows were furrowed in focus at something that was clearly important that it distracted him so much. For once, there was no absolute anger in his eyes, only confusion.

Then she turned to Naruto. The unusually soundless boy remained leaning his elbows on the bridge, impassively gazing at something only he could see.

She idly wondered what was going on with her generally loud teammate. He appeared fine yesterday, though a bit subdued. Naruto seemed to have sensed her growing concern for him since he turned his head and gave her a soft smile before retreating back to his thoughts.

By the time Kakashi arrived, Sakura and Sasuke stood up simultaneously- for different reasons. One was eager to begin water-walking while the other wanted to commence a thorough observation of Naruto's actions.

Kakashi gave his customary excuse for his tardiness (which was more realistic this time) accompanied by an apprehensive look at Naruto, who hasn't lost the far-away look in his eyes. As expected, his teammates seemed just as clueless as he was.

"So, my cute genin; are you ready for some cat-hunting?"

His sadistic glee induced an exasperated groan, an irritated twitch and a frown. If he hadn't been paying attention to the blond-haired brat, he would have missed the fond expression on his face before it was replaced by resignation.


	5. Chapter 5

Kakashi swore to himself that he would lay off the sake for a while.

As he began to swirl around in a blank empty space that knew no gravity, he had a feeling that he would be abstaining from all forms of alcohol for a _very_ long time.

Everything was black; so black that initially, Kakashi couldn't tell if he was blind or if this surreal place was actually painted black and had no desire to deviate from the colour. Spinning around and around, Kakashi had already lost track of which way was up, which way was down and all the directions in between.

His own gravity-defying hair also defied his familiar experience with gravity by floating at a completely random interval that Kakashi could have sworn that each strand had a mind of its own. Sometimes the silvery tips would reach his shoulders, and at other times, those same pesky tips pulled at his scalp as if they were repulsed by their owner.

However, it wasn't the unfamiliar borderline- insane experience of this place that unnerved him, actually, it wouldn't unnerve anyone as much as the cloaked figure sitting calmly on a simple wooden chair upside down (or was it right side up?).

Kakashi continued to observe his silent companion, who seemed to be mulling over something. The billowing cloak swayed by its feet and its hood was set securely over the unknown person's face. Its legs were crossed in an absurdly aristocratic manner, a hand to where Kakashi assumed was a chin while its other arm was curled comfortably over its waist. This elegant, thinking posture was just so out of place yet so inexplicably _right_ that the Sharingan-user couldn't help but allow his mind to wonder about the absurdity and the correctness of this figure in its surrounding. That, and questioning his sanity.

A chill slithered up his spine, like a slow caress of ice across his back. Goosebumps littered his arms. His Sharingan eye tingled, his legs were tense and ready for action, his hands clenched tightly. Something was going to happen.

It has only been a minute and already he hates this place.

* * *

Once, he would have found standing in front of a gravestone and fixing one's eyes to this immovable object to be a waste of time. Now, Naruto has made it a habit. Possibly in honour of the woman who stood by him to the bitter end, always passionate and tender to her beloved. Or perhaps for the man who died in the hands of his supposedly dead lover, who wanted so badly to embrace his long time friend turned enemy, and didn't get the happy ending he deserved.

But that was in the past; _his_ past.

Naruto gently laid a hand on the cool stone. He would be damned if that reality were to happen again.

* * *

He realised with a start that the seemingly idle figure had red hair.

Poking shyly from under its hood, were soft, chin-length locks of red. The shade of red however, reminded him of someone long gone, long buried underneath the many layers of regret and depression he struggled to control. Every thought that crossed his mind whenever he killed, whenever he reflected in front of the memorial stone or even in the shower, was kept hidden from his immediate consciousness There was a time he really considered confronting the shame directly, but instead of being brave he opted to cover the first rug with a larger one. Year after year he would conjure up another larger rug with practised ease, momentarily debate with himself a losing battle, then nonchalantly walk away from the increasingly messy problem.

Hints of mangled limbs and smears of blood would immediately begin to stick out from under the rugs every time he added a layer but he never paid them any more attention than the minimum. He could always cover it up again. This continued to become a constant burden at the back of his mind. And like a child afraid of monsters under his bed, he became unhealthily paranoid of what would happen if he took a peek under all those layers and layers of grief. Would he see his teacher's lifeless eyes? Or Rin's accusing frown?

While Kakashi allowed himself a moment to contemplate his annual mental ritual, he didn't even notice the figure observing him without movement. Like a statue, the figure took in the way Kakashi's shoulders sagged in despair, how his usually sharp eyes were now glazed over in deep thought, his fists clenched tightly in his gloved hands. His back was slightly hunched, his chin lower to his chest and his silver hair floating placidly about him.

The figure considered what to make of this development, after all, its purpose was already in operation without its assistance. It wondered if it should leave, or if it should scare the clearly broken man and make matters worse for him?

Kakashi wasn't even aware of the figure's advancement towards him until it was too late. Bony fingers curled loosely around Kakashi's neck, lightly choking the vulnerable veteran. Still, Kakashi didn't stir. He didn't feel anything; only numbness and a gradual overall weakness. The figure tilted it head to the side, finding interest in the shinobi's slanted hitae-ate. In a mock gesture of a caress, the figure lifted the object with a skeletal finger, and began to run its thumb along the scar.

It smiled a toothless smile.

"Did you know that you are not the only one who can change this past?"

...

Kakashi swung his legs over his bed as soon as he realised what the figure said in its succinct monologue.

He automatically grabbed and donned his shinobi gear, ignoring the stinging sensation on his Sharingan eye scar. He stumbled through his apartment, fidgeting, noting the barely shining rays of sunlight spilling faithfully into his barren room.

Though the memory of the dream was cloudy, Kakashi could not help but shake off the worrying knowledge of his apparent companion through time. He hadn't expected anyone to have followed him back, and if it was true, the question he would like the answer to is 'how'? How is any of this possible? Is his fellow traveller hostile? What are their motives?

He found himself experiencing a mixture of confusion and fear all in one. The effects of the unsettling experience hadn't worn off yet. He hasn't forgotten the vividness of the nightmare, nor has he forgotten the discomfiting sensation of scaly fingers wrapping around his neck. It was as if he was the prey caught in the confines of Orochimaru's favourite snake. His surroundings suddenly began to feel thicker; stifling even. Much like the _that thing_ , it's as if he is being strangled by some other cruel entity, teasing the emotionally unstable man without remorse.

And with that abrupt and erratic start, Kakashi shunshined out.

* * *

"Naruto?"

"Kaka-sensei?"

The two time travellers eyed each other curiously before the memorial stone. One was just as surprised as the other; it was, after all, barely sunrise. They continued to stare at each other, almost stupidly, before breaking eye contact and focusing on the stone in front of them. For what seemed like hours, neither said a word. That is, until Kakashi decided to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Well, Naruto," he began awkwardly, gaining his student's attention again. "Since we're here, I suppose I can spare some time for my adorable genin. Just don't tell your teammates; they might think I'm playing favourites." Kakashi winked humorously, albeit the strained and worried glint in his tired eye, which was only met with a touch of concern. Even though he had no desire to, Kakashi forced a slight smile, in hopes of hiding his erratic state of thoughts.

The past Naruto would have accepted the attempt. Though, he would have missed the subtle fatigue, the expertly hidden worry in his teacher's actions. He would have shrugged it off as the trick of the light (or lack thereof) and continued the conversation as normal.

However, this Naruto, the Rokudaime of Konoha, would rather take another chidori to the chest than ignore his teacher's pain.

Raising his eyes to meet Kakashi's one, he was struck at how weary he looked. Far more weary than his Kakashi in the future. After spending so much time with the Copy-cat, ambushing sound-nin here and there, Naruto had no problem detecting the tell-tale signs of his teacher's past returning to haunt him. He remembered the way Kakashi easily composed himself in his presence, despite witnessing his grief upon Obito's appearance. It wasn't fair that the constant pillar Naruto was so used to leaning on had no intention to share his burden.

Naruto wanted to say how grateful he was to have Kakashi as his sensei. He wanted to relieve this man of the demons that refused to leave him. He wanted to tell him that he does not have to suffer, to not struggle with the constant memory of his team, his sensei, his father. Not again. _Not again._

He wanted to tell Kakashi all of these things at once that Naruto almost blurted it out.

But he didn't.

Instead, the rational part of his mind triggered his mouth to keep shut. This same man was anything but fragile. If his student suddenly offered words of comfort that mentioned people he shouldn't know, Naruto would be under suspicion. And though it pains Naruto to think of it, he knew he should not reveal his origins to anyone.

However, that does not mean he will not eventually know.

"Don't worry about them, Sensei, I doubt they'll even notice!"

The soft creasing of the man's eye displayed gratitude to both of Naruto's assurances.

* * *

She would be lying if she said that Kakashi's effort to aid her to the best of his abilities had not confused her at first. After all, she wasn't stupid; she could sense the irritated vibes and the looks of disdain since the first day. Notably those features had vanished for some reason. Ever since he allowed each member to work on different skills, Kakashi had been nothing short of supportive. It both surprised and utterly confused her. She was sure it would rub off the next day but when he continued this attitude and resumed his careful attention to each person of the team as individuals, Sakura could not help but feel a thrum of determination to not have him lose faith on her. In doing so, with some reluctance, she had abandoned her forced obsession with 'Sasuke-kun' and the petty rivalry between her and Ino (without the blonde-haired girl's knowledge). The product of this shift bred a fire that was waiting to be ignited.

It has only been a few weeks since Sakura had mastered water walking and she no longer relied solely on the training sessions with her team to improve her strength. Similar to her diligence to learning back in the academy, Sakura has now taken to increasing her resilience and renewed her determination for why she wanted to become a shinobi in the first place; to show that Sakura Haruno was not exclusively a powerless bookworm. Not to be underestimated. Being viewed as frail and incapable of defending herself, she swore to never be in a position where she could not do anything but cry and curl into a ball. Not since _he_ left. Not since _he_ gazed at her so dismissively with expressionless forest green eyes because of her inability to stand up to his immoral ideals and vicious insults. She was young then, but old enough to have developed a judgement between what was right and what was wrong.

Somewhere along the way, upon meeting Ino, she had forgotten all about that will to never be that girl.

She stood up tiredly after twenty push ups. Personal record. Beaming, she stretched as contently as Tora the cat and proceeded to walk up the tallest tree.

Of course, it took more than a week to stick to these changes. Even now, she had not finished applying all of her intentions to her daily routine. But that did not mean that she was going nowhere. If the exercises from the taijutsu scroll were right, she was well on her way to catching up to Naruto and Sasuke.

She didn't want to be left behind by either of her teammates. They were already miles ahead of her, evident by the inhumane stamina of her strangely less hyperactive teammate and the polished skills possessed by the Uchiha prodigy. However, there was something she felt that she had an advantage over them.

With that advantage in mind, she jumped off the apex of the tree and pulled back a fist.

* * *

For once, it was only Sakura and Sasuke left waiting for both their sensei and teammate on Team Seven Bridge. Usually, they didn't have to wait too long for the dobe. However, today was an exception, they have waited for an hour without any sight or smell of Naruto.

Furthermore, Sasuke was not at all at ease with the way the pinkette had not only purchased proper shinobi attire, but it was also the fact that she was cracking her knuckles menacingly underneath her pale fingerless gloves. There was no hint of the Sakura he had known, scorned and often fled from a few weeks ago. Her once long cherry blossom locks were pulled back in a tight bun and the suggestive signs of muscle was emphasised by her sleeveless unembellished shirt.

No, what replaced the rabid fangirl was a frightening woman seeking for blood. Thankfully, not his blood, more so the blood of a knucklehead and their cyclops of a teacher.

"Hey, Sasuke, let's see what's taking Naruto-baka so long."

He had never felt so unsettled by the lack of '-kun'...

* * *

"Ne, Sensei, where's Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi looked up from his precious book to not see his distinct students who were generally punctual. It was odd that they were not around. Perhaps they got fed up with the waiting?

Glancing up at the sky and approximating the time, Kakashi was sure that they should have been here by now; he was only two hours late.

"I'm not sure, Naruto. I think I'll give them an hour more and if they are not back before then, I'll check up on them." Kakashi explained, carefully returning his book back into his pocket. "In the meantime, let me see if you have improved your taijutsu."

* * *

"Sakura, are you sure this way is Naruto's apartment?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the poorly maintained area with faint disgust.

"I think so. I've seen him walk this way before." Sakura hummed, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "And this seems to be the only apartment in this area."

Attentively, Sakura approached an elderly woman fruitlessly sweeping in front of the worn down building. "Excuse me, ma'am, do you know Naruto Uzumaki?"

The woman peered at her through beady eyes with a scowl. Her ancient skin hung off her high bony cheekbones like heavy soggy bags. As she spoke, her aged and yellowed teeth let themselves known.

"Why would such good children want to look for him? He's a waste of space and talent in my fine establishment. It's a mystery how he manages to pay the rent every month." She pointed at the building behind her with a crooked finger. "Go up the stairs to the fifth floor, his room is the first door you see on the right."

With a quick bow, Sakura and Sasuke approached the building abruptly. For some reason, the woman's tone was borderline hatred and they didn't like hearing such a tone directed towards their teammate.

Once out of sight, Sakura gave Sasuke an inquiring glance only to be met with an equally confused response.

For once, all she could focus on was Naruto; not the place that seemed to fall apart around her, nor her good looking companion walking cautiously at her side. She refrained from jumping to conclusions within the first few steps into the apartment. She didn't know what to expect. With the cracked dirty white walls and the tasteless artwork attempting to obscure the clearly run down appearance of the building, Sakura became more and more worried of Naruto's standard of living.

After climbing the precariously steep flights of stairs to the fifth floor, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if the walls looked more yellow than the first floor. Sneaking a glance at Sasuke, he appeared to have noticed the deteriorating conditions for he was not at all impressed.

The dull door handle stared up at its owner's teammates from old and decaying wood, straining to shine against the smudges of countless fingerprints. But that was the least of Sakura's worries. Rather, it was the overabundance of colourful blasphemy on the same wooden door, each insult fighting for a space to show off the opinion of their maker. 'Monster', 'demon' and all their other synonyms.

"Are you sure this is the place Sakura?" Sasuke asked again, clearly put off by the offending door.

"I think so. This is where that old lady said his room is. I highly doubt both of us are lacking in the navigation departement." she answered, unsure. A plethora of uncertainties crossed her mind before she shoved them away to ponder about at a later time. Ensuring Naruto's safety was far more important.

Tentatively, she knocked on the cheaply painted door twice and softly called for her teammate. She did so again when no reply was heard. A pale hand tested the door handle, only to find that the door slowly swung itself ajar with what little force he applied on it.

"Sakura, it's open."

"But we're trespassing!"

"Then we can blame the dobe for being careless."

Checking the barren hallway as if the dobe himself decided to appear out of thin air, Sakura gave a hesitant nod to Sasuke and followed him into Naruto's room. Besides, they were only going to check up on him.

Curiously, the state of Naruto's living room was tidy and well-kept compared to the rest of the building. The walls were crack-free, save for the medium sized one beside the spotless unlatched window, which was simply adorned with plain blue curtains. Recently replaced, judging by the complete absence of wear and tear. An equally fresh yet plain bed stood at a corner, neatly made.

Despite the oddly neat room that didn't quite match its owner, Sakura felt even more concerned over the whereabouts of the once loud mouthed boy.

Her eyes fell on the team photo propped harmlessly on the the bedside table.

* * *

He narrowly ducked under a high kick and countered with a well-aimed palm to his student's unguarded side, who collapsed into an awkward backward tumble. Taking advantage of Naruto's momentary loss in balance, Kakashi pelted him in a flurry of punches and precise strikes that surprisingly, didn't always hit. Suddenly a stray thrust towards his chest forced the teacher to jump back, avoiding an onslaught of attacks that forced him to go on the defensive.

Naruto must have been practicing. The currently smooth array of attacks and the fluid transition of his movements were absent from his memory of the young Naruto he thought he had known. Instead of the clumsy brawler style that he had expected, a graceful and deadly shinobi took his place.

As if to contradict his observations, said graceful and deadly shinobi plopped down to the ground with a childish pout.

"Just you wait sensei, I'll eventually take you down." He huffed poignantly.

"Somehow, I don't doubt it." Kakashi replied. His genuine encouragement did not go unnoticed by the recipient of the praise, who graced his teacher with another one of his cheeky grins.

Before Naruto could demand another rematch, a flash of pink caught his eye. Before he knew it, a gloved fist was making its way to his vulnerable head. It took all of his many years as a shinobi on the run to evade the unexpected attack. Tumbling away and landing a few feet from a crater that certainly wasn't there before, he thanked the toads that he didn't end up as a stain on the ground.

Looking up warily towards his assailant, a hot-tempered Sakura met him. She was heavily breathing, eyebrows furrowed in agitation, her fist poised and ready for another punch. She had barely paid attention to the mini crater at her sandals, quite prominently showing her beastly strength. How, no, _when_ did this happen? Sakura was a year too early for this monstrous power, what in the world happened? Judging from the uncharacteristically awed Sasuke and stock-still Kakashi, it seemed that Naruto wasn't the only one caught off guard.

"Naruto, you have some nerve-" Sakura began, scrunching her eyes shut as she pulled back her arm.

 _One was enough, thank you._

"Sakura-chan, breathe." Naruto placated, slowly standing up and assessing her shaking figure. "I don't know what I did wrong, but I would be happy to explain what I can as long as you calm down."

The cherry blossom lowered her arm and slightly relaxed her shoulders, yet she was still too rigid and her eyes remained shut. He looked over at Sasuke, to gain any clues about her behaviour. Instead, coal eyes pierced him with a questionable hint of concern, which was hastily replaced by the usual aloofness that the academy girls worshipped him for, whatever it was, it must have been bad if even Sasuke was affected by it.

The confused Naruto returned his attention to Sakura, who has effectively composed herself and didn't appear to want to squash him like a bug.

"We know."

 _Huh?!_

Seeing his alarmed expression, Sakura continued, meeting his gaze head on. "You don't deserve to be called a monster, Naruto."

Ah, so that's where they went.


End file.
